MSTies Anonymous: Spotlight: BBI Studio Tour 08/07/98

Art Gallery
BBI Studio Tour 08/07/98
Electric Bugaloo
Gateway 2000
Kevin Murphy Interview
MST3K Collection, Vol. 6
MST3K, The End
Sound Directory

[Note from the Poobah: This account of my studio tour on 08/07/98 is incomplete. There are lots of sounds yet to come!]

Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, the studio where MST3K was made -- open for tours in 1998 -- would one year later be empty. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to not only take a tour at the Electric Bugaloo, but also while visiting family in Wisconsin over the summer of '98. Four of us made the 6-hour drive up to Minnesota a day before the tour after getting space reserved.

Outside of BBI
Reception Desk/Load Pan Bay
Castle Forrester
Satellite of Love
Prop Garage
Writers' Room
Costume Room & Halls

Outside of BBI

I stepped out of the car and into MSTie Heaven. The other two MSTies who signed up for the tour arrived just as we did. The cameras would continue to snap for quite awhile. Upon approaching the building, none other than Beez McKeever walked out to her car! Ringing the buzzer, Barbbb let us all in and we discussed the finer points of the show following a roll call. The good news: we'd get a full tour. The bad news: the writers had the week off during "pre-production for Season 10."
Yours truly outside of Best Brains, Inc.
The lovely Prop Diva, Beez McKeever! Walking out to her car, she stopped for a quick photo. Thanks, Beez! =D
Beyond these doors is a wonderous place like no other, where laughter is created in the spite of the mediocrity of the rest of television.
The all-powerful Info Club Poobah, Barb Tebben, lets a select few MSTies into the garage-turned-office-and-studio fo an in-depth tour.

Best Brains mailbox

Reception Desk/Load Pan Bay

The entry-way of Best Brains is lined with offices, cast pictures, fan mail, and this projector used in Season 7. Barbbb said that they were considering moving it outside onto the lawn.
Hobgoblins, Hobgoblins... What do you do with those Hobgoblins? They are over here, they are over there! Those darn Hobgoblins are everywhere.
Old-School MSTies will recognize this Demon Dog from KTMA and Season 1. Also in the prop room that serves as Barbbb's office is what comprises a huge, 100,000-member fan club: phone books, tissues, stickers, catalogs, membership cards, and books. Wow.
Just across from Barbbb's office is the Load Pan Bay, where MST editor Brad Keeley inserts bad movies behind the silhouette using a luminous key rather than a chroma key since Season 4, explaining the remarkable change in its quality.
Patrick "PantLeg" Brantseg was responsible for the evil visages of one Crow T. Robot.
Walking back to the set, everyone discussed the finer points of Seasons 8 and 9. Upon entering the studio, MST Editor Brad Keeley passed through! You might know him from such fine MST classics as 1006 Boggy Creek II and 507 I Accuse My Parents. Please don't remind me of that sketch. We would get a chance to talk with him about the show later.

Barbbb discusses 819 Invasion of the Neptune Men Fan mail Season 7 projection equipment The reception desk The coveted Peabody Award Crow's chainsaw and the Electronics Service Manual from The Movie Door to the small prop room Post-production can be useful in some cases...

Castle Forrester

The fair lady Servo sits in the catacombs of Castle Forrester.
The fun Forrester coat-of-arms.
Rock 'n' Roll! Hey! Louie Louie?!
Another fun friend!
The walls of Castle Forrester aren't made of stone, rather they're constructed of plywood.

Above Castle Forrester Pearl's new Mads' console I sing of the glorious Delta Knights...

Satellite of Love

Recognize this kitchen? It was used for the Poopie Parade of Values during Turkey Day '95.
The planet logo of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Yours truly on the Satellite of Love!
Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo on the SOL.
Count 'em. There are 43 grid spaces in Crow's lacrosse mask. 9x4+7x1=43

The kitchen as viewed on Poopie Parade of Values Sold for $5,100 Crooooow! Mike's P.O.V.

Prop Garage

This is on the door to the prop room. Making its debut in 601 Girls Town, the Umbilicus was quickly ignored. Now Observer just transports things back and forth.
Verboten at the Electric Bugaloo was the prop room. True to the FAQ, Gypsy's maintenance stall is on the left.
Servo's stall reflects his messy room in The Movie, but without an underwear collection. But still, there's a mess of neat junk!
Hiding out in Crow's stall since 416 Firemaidens of Outer Space is an evil hell-spawn known as Timmy. But really, he's used for the theater sequences to reduce glare. Fun. At this point, Barbbb mentioned the depleting supply of Floraliers.

Crow's version of Tom Above: the original Deep 13 and Aaron Spelling's house Power tools! Barbbb and other MSTies peer down the aisles of props The adjacent painting room A view down a prop aisle Castle Forrester and a double-bladed karanku Intergalactic road-kill above Gypsy's stall A Delta Knight and theater Servo inside his stall Puppet Mike and Tickle-Me-Carlo Lombardi on the opposite side of Servo's stall Screaming Skull Crow Solarite Mask from 902, Timmy, and the Screaming Skull

Writers' Room

Just as I was about to capture Mike's defaced charicature hanging on the door of the writing room, I ran out of film. After three rolls. Sorry 'bout that. Barbbb rushed the tour group through the writing room that day for the purpose of keeping early details of Season 10 in secrecy, specifically asking us not to photograph/videotape the chalkboard or the numerous tapes strewn about. Though out of the corner of my eye, I did glimpse a logo that I would later discover to be that of "Soultaker".

Avast, ye mateys! Lots of fan mail, including one from our very own Jenny The round table, surrounded by B-movie posters The Worst Movie Ever Made, sold for $1,200.00

Costume Room & Halls

Lots and lots of jumpsuits The writers' offices Scrotor and Pumaman masks, O2 Bypass from the storm shelter sequence Dr. F's 3-headed pet, sold for $621.04 Cambot! The vault, door #1 The old SOL model, made by Crow out of eggshells and cardboard Leonardo DaVinci's ship, sold for $1,375.00 The Gizmonics Institute, Dr. F dolls, and the Forrester Rocket Another MSTie looks at the Season 2 SOL launched from Gizmonics Joel memorabilia Palance on Palance, a LM from 508, and a Dr. F doll Model set for beneath the bridge in The Movie

Upon completing the extensive tour into the bowels of BBI, Barbbb called Brad Keeley up to the front for a chat. Talking about his role as Editor on MST3K, Brad was more than happy to answer our questions. He explained the evolution of the silhouette and the audio problems with 901, among other things. Barb offered to sell merchandise to anyone who wanted it, and the other MSTies quickly grew envious of my Deep 13 hat. I ended up getting 301 Cave Dwellers, the Season 8 cast poster, Poopie II, and a replacement for my lost Clowns in the Sky CD. Of course, now that I've sent my Floralier to the Brains, I'll have to exchange my poster for something else... But I digress. More coverage to come!

MST Editor Brad Keeley tries to fix a device from his truck

Back to Spotlight.
Back to MSTies Anonymous.

I stepped out of the car and into MSTie Heaven. The other two MSTies who signed up for the tour arrived just as we did. The cameras would continue to snap for quite awhile. Upon approaching the building, none other than Beez McKeever walked out to her car! Ringing the buzzer, Barbbb let us all in and we discussed the finer points of the show following a roll call. The good news: we'd get a full tour. The bad news: the writers had the week off during "pre-production for Season 10."
Yours truly outside of Best Brains, Inc.
The lovely Prop Diva, Beez McKeever! Walking out to her car, she stopped for a quick photo. Thanks, Beez! =D
Beyond these doors is a wonderous place like no other, where laughter is created in the spite of the mediocrity of the rest of television.
The all-powerful Info Club Poobah, Barb Tebben, lets a select few MSTies into the garage-turned-office-and-studio fo an in-depth tour.

The entry-way of Best Brains is lined with offices, cast pictures, fan mail, and this projector used in Season 7. Barbbb said that they were considering moving it outside onto the lawn.
Hobgoblins, Hobgoblins... What do you do with those Hobgoblins? They are over here, they are over there! Those darn Hobgoblins are everywhere.
Old-School MSTies will recognize this Demon Dog from KTMA and Season 1. Also in the prop room that serves as Barbbb's office is what comprises a huge, 100,000-member fan club: phone books, tissues, stickers, catalogs, membership cards, and books. Wow.
Just across from Barbbb's office is the Load Pan Bay, where MST editor Brad Keeley inserts bad movies behind the silhouette using a luminous key rather than a chroma key since Season 4, explaining the remarkable change in its quality.
Patrick "PantLeg" Brantseg was responsible for the evil visages of one Crow T. Robot.
Walking back to the set, everyone discussed the finer points of Seasons 8 and 9. Upon entering the studio, MST Editor Brad Keeley passed through! You might know him from such fine MST classics as 1006 Boggy Creek II and 507 I Accuse My Parents. Please don't remind me of that sketch. We would get a chance to talk with him about the show later.

The fair lady Servo sits in the catacombs of Castle Forrester.
The fun Forrester coat-of-arms.
Rock 'n' Roll! Hey! Louie Louie?!
Another fun friend!
The walls of Castle Forrester aren't made of stone, rather they're constructed of plywood.

Recognize this kitchen? It was used for the Poopie Parade of Values during Turkey Day '95.
The planet logo of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Yours truly on the Satellite of Love!
Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo on the SOL.
Count 'em. There are 43 grid spaces in Crow's lacrosse mask. 9x4+7x1=43

This is on the door to the prop room. Making its debut in 601 Girls Town, the Umbilicus was quickly ignored. Now Observer just transports things back and forth.
Verboten at the Electric Bugaloo was the prop room. True to the FAQ, Gypsy's maintenance stall is on the left.
Servo's stall reflects his messy room in The Movie, but without an underwear collection. But still, there's a mess of neat junk!
Hiding out in Crow's stall since 416 Firemaidens of Outer Space is an evil hell-spawn known as Timmy. But really, he's used for the theater sequences to reduce glare. Fun. At this point, Barbbb mentioned the depleting supply of Floraliers.